Ullmann



' July 3, 1951 H, ULLMANN 2,558,996

FLOATABLE PLASTIC BOOK Filed Nov. 9, 1946 INVENTOR. /Aa4 60M Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE FLOATABLE PLASTIC BOOK Henry Ullmann, New York, N. Y.

Application November 9, 1946, Serial No. 708,955

1 Claim.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fioatable book primarily for children, which will be very durable and which, regardless of moisture and creasing or folding, the pages will preserve the pictorial matter or text, since the latter is protected by the transparent walls of the book pages. The book is preferably made of plastic and comprises a plurality of leaves, each consisting of transparent plastic walls marginally bonded to form a hollow structure, the leaves being attached at one margin thereof.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the book constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through one of the leaves taken generally on the line 22, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view showing generally a manner of attaching the leaves, the view showing the elements prior to heat and pressure used to bond the leaves together when their walls are made of plastic;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the formation after the back margins of the assembled leaves have been subjected to a bonding heat and pressure; and

Figure 5 is a schematic top plan view showing the formation of a plurality of leaves from a single web folded upon itself in accordion fashion.

In the embodiment shown, the individual leaves consist of two separate sheets of thin walled transparent plastic I which are abutted and their margins bonded, as by heat and pressure, with or without an interposed adhesive, in accordance with the specific plastic material used. The bonded marginal areas are indicated at Ix.

In securing the leaves together for the formation of a book, the top and bottom and front edge margins of the two assembled leaves I may first be bonded together by heat and pressure. The rear margins of an assembled series of leaves may then be superimposed, as shown in Figure 3, and subjected to heat and pressure, with or without the application of adhesive. Thus, certain cellulosic sheets are inherently capable of mutual bonding by heat and pressure, whilst other forms require either the use of a solvent to cause adhesion, or the use of a separate adhesive medium.

It will be understood that the inner of the leaves I may have imprinted thereon pictorial and text matter so as to be visualized through Number the transparent sheets from the outside. Also, it is entirely feasible to place printed Webs, as of paper, between the sheets so as to be held in the leaf assembly when the margins thereof are bonded together.

While in the embodiment shown, separate sheets are used for each leaf, it will be understood that a leaf may be formed by folding a single sheet so that bonding will be required only at three of the margins thereof. To insure that air will remain between the sheets in the leaf structure, it is only necessary that when the margins are bonded, as by heat and pressure, the intermediate area of each assembly be free from such positive pressure as to expel all of the air.

With regard to assembling the sheets into book form, the embodiment shown is preferable, although it will be understood that any suitable connecting means may be employed, as for example stitching, stapling, or the use of a ring fastener as well known in the art. It will also be understood that the leaves may be formed by means of a relatively lon web reversely folded a plurality of times, as in Figure 5, thereby forming a plurality of leaves as indicated at 2, the margins of each two sheets forming a leaf to be bonded together in any suitable manner. Such an arrangement simplifies printing and considerably lowers the cost of construction.

I claim:

A floatable plastic book for children, comprising a plurality of leaves formed by means of a relatively long web reversely folded a plurality of times to provide a plurality of sheet members connected at opposite margins, the remaining margins of each of two adjacent sheet members being hermetically bonded together to form a hollow two-walled leaf, each of the two-walled leaves consisting of opposed walls of heat scalable transparent plastic material enclosing a hermetically sealed air space, the interior of each twowalled leaf containing visual subject matter.

HENRY ULLMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Salfisberg Aug. 2, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June '7, 1937 Number 

